I have never been asked this questions myself ... likely because I always beat clients to it by explaining right in my advertizing and on my website clearly what they GET for the fees I charge so that when they are comparing me to others they are comparing apples to apples so to speak.

It is like when you are looking for a car and you have X amount to spend you want to make sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck ... nothing wrong with clients asking what 'features' your program has to offer or what is included in your 'fees' so to speak that is totally prudent 'consumerism'!

There are so many things we do so vastly differently in our businesses ... some of us include regular field trips and outings in our fees and others charge 'extra' to the client when they go on a field trips which can add up if the provider is going to some of the places that have $5-10 a head entrance fees, some of us provide wipes, sunscreen and other 'additions' children require because we have control issues and do not want to be exposed to 'cheap' products and others require parents to supply that, some of us have 'low ratio' childcare programs verses running at full max and so forth and so on that can result in vastly different 'business plans and budgets' ... IMO these are things parent's researching childcare options SHOULD be asking when comparing providers services and fees cause it the lady down the street is charging $30 a day but requires clients to provide all meals and snacks and than also charges extra for every little thing from field trips to art supply costs and takes 6 weeks of 'paid vacation' or what not than than perhaps the provider up the street charging $40 for an 'all inclusive program' and not charging for vacation closures is actually the CHEAPER option

It is disheartening about the 'value' we place on our children's early learning experience when parents seeking childcare just look at Provider A charges $35 a day and Provider B charges $25 a day and do not stop to consider/research WHY before choosing which one to interview and consider and might actually end up with a service that costs them way more than they had intended as a result!